Meet Cluj-Napoca Municipality (MCN)
Cluj-Napoca is one of the EU Mission 100 Climate-Neutral Cities by 2030 and received the EU Mission Label in 2023. The city is becoming a testing ground for innovative climate solutions, while also working to create a greener and more livable urban environment. Among its goals are planting 100,000 trees, modernizing over 215 green spaces and achieving a fully electric public transport fleet.
As a pilot city in DELPHI, Cluj-Napoca focuses on testing how data spaces and digital platforms can improve sustainable mobility and decision-making. Through the project, the municipality provides a real environment where mobility data can be securely shared between the city, service providers and technology partners.
Can you provide an overview of your role and involvement in the DELPHI project?
Our role is to make local data available for the pilot and to host the technical setup in the city’s IT infrastructure. We provide datasets such as public transport schedules and positions, bike-sharing availability, parking status, air quality, and traffic information from Waze. These datasets are exposed through our dataspace connector under clear policies. We also ensure that the services tested in DELPHI run in line with city governance and security standards. This way, Cluj can be a real testbed for data-driven urban mobility solutions.
What are the main difficulties in deploying a federated data-sharing system at the city level?
The biggest challenge is interoperability. Datasets come in different formats and with different levels of quality. Bringing them together in one system requires strong technical integration. Another challenge is governance: setting clear rules for who can access the data, under which conditions, and for what purpose.
How do you ensure that sensitive urban data is securely shared while remaining useful for mobility services?
Security and control are key. DELPHI uses policy-based access and contract negotiation, which means the municipality decides how data can be used. Only authorized users get access and every exchange follows the agreed rules. This keeps the data safe but still useful for improving mobility services.
How do you see the role of dataspaces evolving in urban mobility in the coming years?
We see dataspaces becoming central for smart mobility. They allow different actors to connect their data and services in a secure way. This will support multimodal transport, better traffic management and real-time monitoring. In the future, the same approach can extend beyond mobility to areas like energy and urban planning, creating a connected city ecosystem.
Anything else you would like to mention or highlight?
DELPHI helps Cluj-Napoca move closer to its vision of becoming a climate-neutral, innovative city. The project shows how collaboration between municipalities, private operators and technology providers can create solutions that are ready to scale to other European cities.
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